Astronomy, Photography and Weather

This couple have decided it's a quiet place to be and have been here for three days,they leave just before as the last vestiges of light disappear from the sky. When they go,as they do now and again throughout the day,the fish come to the surface for food, otherwise they stay low down. Yesterday they (the ducks) were sitting on the grass.

Settings for the female (photo 2) were..1/200 f9 ISO 400 400mm Centre weighted (my usual setting-maybe spot would have been more appropriate so close) Still needed ISO 400 because the light's not atall good.

Yes, Richard,lovely colours indeed and that green neck of Mr. Mallard (I call them Mr & Mrs.lol) is sometimes a striking purple depending on how the sun strikes it.

Lol We had plastic ducks once, Mark but that was to keep herons away. What happened yesterday morning was that Mr. M. flew in on his own and he walked around the lawn,very purposefully looking here and there and then went to the side of the house and peered down the side passage and then went to the edge of the pond and looked down into the water and then flew off. He was clearly looking for his wife. Neither returned so yesterday morning I went across to the large municipal pond hoping NOT to see a dead Mrs. M.

There;'s quite a few mallards over there and they all look the same to me Lol. As I was near home returning, there they were in the brook 50 metres from home so I said 'hello' lol and they looked up - I hadn't been in 5 minutes when they crash landed on the pond (and the fish took cover lol) It's 12.28pm now and they've been here all morning asleep on the lawn.